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Basic Cable TV

Looking for new tv. Only have basic cable input...not HD. Does anyone watch basic cable with a newer 4k or OLED tv? Is there a difference between an old 1080p and a newer 4k set when using cable? Found an old 55" 1080 for $350...why spend more if there is no improvement in the picture quality?

"Never turn your back on fear. It should always be in front of you, like a thing that might have to be killed." - Hunter Thompson
T5/6 complete

I ditched cable over 20 years ago and never looked back. Now I have a smart tv with digital antenna. Once you buy the antenna, it's all free from that point. Also have it plugged into the internet and there's more stuff (apps) to watch then I'll ever care to see. I live between NYC and Philly so I get about 60 over the air channels.

I'll second what Rustyjames said. (Less than 20 years for us though.) Just get an HD smart tv with an integrated digital tv tuner. You may be surprised how much free content you can watch just over the air. If you add a wireless connection you'll have even more choices via Netflix etc.
(I prefer Samsung's line and it is easily available at Costco.)

We subscribe to Playstation Vue for ESPN, Travel Channel etc. You can watch it live or dvr style. It is like $30 a month.

Some newer flat screens that say like 55" inch 4k display on the box is just that. Its a display like a computer monitor and has no tv tuner in it you would have to buy a separate tuner to get it to work with an antenna. So watch out for that. High def tv's that have a higher refresh rate look fine with standard definition. I noticed that some flat screens that are only 60 hrtz refresh can be kind of blurry with standard def. Rook if your gonna spend 350 I'd shop around and buy a new tv for just a little more money.

Looking for new tv. Only have basic cable input...not HD. Does anyone watch basic cable with a newer 4k or OLED tv? Is there a difference between an old 1080p and a newer 4k set when using cable? Found an old 55" 1080 for $350...why spend more if there is no improvement in the picture quality?

If I understand your question correctly... - No, a 55" with 1080 is not going to make any difference versus price for a newer display. If you found a 55" that is in good working condition and fits your space requirements, for the money that seems like a good deal. For comparison, I have a 70" 3D. The bigger the TV, the more you could notice a difference. With today's DVDs and with a 1080 feed from cable, you'd be fine. I bought my 70" back in 2011 when they were around $3k. Since then, I've bought several smaller (42-47") displays and a couple of computer monitors. The 4k displays do look better, but right now it's not worth the money. The human eye can only handle so much resolution and technology has surpassed that. Give it a handful of years and the 4ks will be stupid cheap.

In order to see the difference between a 1080 TV and a 4K TV, you must have a 4K source (like a Direct TV set top box) and 4K content. Since you don't have a 4K source or 4K content, you'll never see any difference.

It all depends what you watch, and how much you watch TV. If it's possible to check out the TVs at a store - side by side - that's the best bet. I'd also suggest you watch the promos from your cable company. It seems like Comcast and others are trying to compete with 'cord cutters' and offering HD content (channels) at slightly higher rates than the cost of internet service alone - especially if you sign up for a 1 or 2 year deal. That said, my family tends to still go for online content (e.g. Netflix) anyways.